Emerging budget deal making it costlier to see grandma: airline group

Reuters

Flying may be about to get a bit more expensive thanks to budget talks on Capitol Hill.

Sean Kennedy, chief lobbyist for the group Airlines for America, told MarketWatch it is “highly likely” that an increased fee for passengers will be included in a House-Senate budget deal. Senate Budget Committee Chairman Patty Murray and House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan are negotiating the deal, and aides said Wednesday talks were ongoing.

Kennedy says his group, which represents commercial airlines like United as well as cargo airlines, will continue arguing against an extra charge for travelers “until we’re blue in the face.” But with a Dec. 13 deadline approaching for the House-Senate group to reach agreement, he says: “Everything we’ve heard from both sides of the aisle indicates that there’s interest in closing a budget deal on the backs of airline passengers.”

“Congress is making it more expensive to see grandma for the holidays,” he said.

Under discussion is doubling the transportation security fee from $2.50 to $5. Kennedy calls it a tax and says it would probably net the government about $11 billion over 10 years.

Other elements of the deal reportedly include higher spending levels than Republicans want – about $1 trillion in so-called discretionary spending, instead of the $967 billion cap for 2014 now written into law. The higher user fees for airline passengers would be in place of ending some corporate tax breaks, as Democrats prefer.

Congressional aides gave little away on Wednesday and cautioned that the deal could still implode.

“There’s hope they can get a deal by the deadline,” a Senate Democrat aide said. “We’re not there yet. There’s still ways this can fall apart.”

Will Allison, a spokesman for Ryan, said the Wisconsin Republican will be “in communication” with Murray this week but offered no other details.

There are no consequences if the two sides don’t reach a deal by Dec. 13. But without new funding in place before Jan. 15, the government would again partially shut down.

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